30 years of German unity
The video collage was shown as an installation in public spaces for 30 days to mark the Day of German Unity 2020. The multimedia LED cube designed by brot & salz captivated passers-by and created a special and highly emotional experience of history. The statements of the 30 personalities and the speeches of the Federal Presidents were translated into sign language and created an inclusive dialogue.
Shared history(ies) - Shared wishes
To mark the 30th anniversary of German reunification, brot & salz was commissioned by the Office of the Federal President to produce a video collage with quotes from 30 people that Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier met during his term of office in the dialog series "Shared History(ies)" and on other issues of coexistence in Germany. In their contributions, the 30 interviewees complete the following four sentences: "My name is... In 1990 I was... Today I am... My wish for Germany is..." As a reminder of important debates surrounding German unity, seven quotes from the speeches of the Federal Presidents in office since 1990 were also woven into the collage.
Thomas Milster
Colonel of the Reserve, Berlin
Gloria Boateng
Teacher, recipient of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, Hamburg
Mevlüde Genç
lost five relatives in the 1993 Solingen murder attack, recipient of the Federal Order of Merit
Düzen Tekkal
Human rights activist, social entrepreneur and journalist, Berlin
Alexander Gerst
Astronaut of the European Space Agency (ESA), Cologne
Margot Friedländer
Holocaust survivor, recipient of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Gerald Asamoah
Former international soccer player, FC Schalke 04
Prof. Dr. Antje Boetius
Marine biologist, Director of the Alfred Wegener Institute, Bremen, recipient of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Martin Fleig
National squad athlete with the Nordic Paraski Team Germany, Freiburg
Ingo Schulze
Writer, Berlin, recipient of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Prof. Dr. Richard Schröder
Faction leader in the first freely elected People's Chamber of the GDR, later member of the Bundestag
Marco Thiele
Managing director of a family business in Halle/Saale
Dirk Balster
Managing Director of the Chemnitz Clinic
Anastassia Pletoukhina
Sociologist, witness to the attack on the synagogue in Halle in 2019
Georg Mascolo
Journalist, Hamburg
Carla Reemtsma
Climate activist at "Fridays for Future", Münster
Bernd Richter
Chairman of the Prisoners' Initiative of the Lindenstraße 54 Memorial Foundation, Potsdam
Prof. Dr. Hacı-Halil Uslucan
Head of the Center for Turkish Studies and Integration Research at the University of Duisburg-Essen
Robert Wüst
Metalworker and President of the Potsdam Chamber of Crafts
Dr. Annika Badorreck
Volunteer helper at THW Cottbus
Ali Can
Social activist, author and director of the Viel Respekt Center in Essen
Pauline Kling
Student at the TU Dresden
Elke Büdenbender
Lawyer and wife of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier
Pia Findeiß
Mayor of the City of Zwickau
Marco Seiffert
Journalist, Berlin
Maria Groß
Cook, Erfurt
Peter Schneider
Writer, Berlin
Julian Vonarb
Lord Mayor of the City of Gera
Igor Levit
Pianist, Berlin
Angela Marquardt
Pianist, Berlin
The Villa Hammerschmidt: History(ies) of the White House on the Rhine.
Greeting from the Federal President.
Thank you very much for taking a little time to reflect on 30 years of German unity, even though the coronavirus pandemic is challenging us in so many ways. Keeping our distance has become one of the most frequently heard pleas in this crisis, but that must not mean that we restrict the kind of closeness and exchange that our country needs right now for cohesion: between East and West, North and South, old and young and all the other differences in origin, feelings of home, cultures, creeds or political convictions. Unity thrives on the courage to make differences an issue and on the perseverance to negotiate democratic compromises. Unity thrives on the determination to defend the values of our Basic Law time and again. Unity is what we have to achieve anew every day: together.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier
Federal President
Picture: © Federal Government / Steffen Kugler
